In ancient Rome, a trivium was an intersection of three roads (tri, "three" + vium, road).

When people met at a trivium, what did they tend to do? According to the Romans, they would shoot the breeze and discuss trivialis ("inconsequential things") - which eventually helped give trivia its modern meaning.

This story begins more than 400 years ago with a technique called "hand in cap" - which was a method for bartering items of unequal value.

As part of that transaction, an umpire would propose a sum of money that the person with the more valuable item should receive to make the deal fair. At that point, the two barterers would deposit money into a hat, reach into it, and then withdraw their hands either holding money or not to indicate whether they accepted the terms of the deal.

By the late 17th century, the word had morphed a bit, and the concept of making a lopsided contest more equitable was being used at the racetrack. Horses were handicapped - given additional weight - before the race.

From there, the word developed its more recent sense: "a disadvantage that makes achievement unusually difficult."

Consider an old British scam involving something that glittered but was not gold.

Here's how it worked:

A con man would gild a brass ring to disguise it as gold, surreptitiously drop it, and then run to pick it up at the same time that an unsuspecting passerby noticed it on the ground.

The scammer would then propose that the found treasure should be split between them. The one who'd "found" the ring, convinced now of its value, would choose instead to keep the ring and pay the con artist some amount of money. That amount, of course, was a bargain for gold but a high price for brass.